All Stories
- Life
Vaccines may offer defense against dengue, Zika and chikungunya
Mosquitoes carry several harmful viruses—dengue, Zika, chikungunya. Vaccines may be the best means of defense.
By Laura Beil - Health & Medicine
WHO: Very little risk that Brazil’s Olympics will speed Zika’s spread
Olympics not likely to hasten international spread of Zika virus, according to WHO analysis that includes data from previous mass gatherings.
By Meghan Rosen - Astronomy
Limestone world gobbled by planet-eating white dwarf
Debris from a shredded planet points to a world that was once covered in calcium carbonate.
- Animals
Lemurs sing in sync — until one tries to go solo
Indris, a lemur species in Madagascar, sing in synchrony and match rhythm, except for young males trying to stand out.
- Planetary Science
Long-lost ‘extinct’ meteorite found
A newly discovered meteorite, nicknamed Öst 65, may have originated from the same collision that formed L chondrites, one of the most abundant groups of meteorites on Earth.
- Chemistry
Movie viewers’ exhaled chemicals tell if scene is funny, scary
Changes in trace gases exhaled by movie audiences could point the way to a subtle form of human communication.
- Animals
‘Kermit Sutra’ gets seventh amphibian mating position
Bombay night frogs’ unusual mating protocol features indirect sperm transfer and female croaks.
By Susan Milius - Life
Biologists seek help to ‘see’ itty-bitty molecules in 3-D
A new citizen science project called Microscopy Masters aims to improve how scientists build three-dimensional models of proteins.
By Erin Wayman - Health & Medicine
Moms’ voices get big reactions in kids’ brains
Mothers’ voices get big responses in kids’ brains, a neural reaction that may lead to feelings of calm.
- Animals
‘Silent Sparks’ illuminates fascinating world of fireflies
In a new book, a firefly researcher explores why scientists and kids alike are captivated by lightning bugs.
By Sid Perkins -
For harbor porpoises, the ocean is a 24-hour buffet
Scientists tagged harbor porpoises with monitoring equipment and found that the small cetaceans eat thousands of fish throughout the day.
- Earth
A third of the population can’t see the Milky Way at night
Light pollution conceals the Milky Way’s star-spangled core from more than a third of Earth’s population, a global atlas of artificial sky luminance reveals.